Living with dust: Slow violence in the shadow of a cement factory in rural Ethiopia

Industrial expansion in Ethiopia has positioned cement production as central to national development, yet its local environmental and bodily consequences remain under‐explored. Drawing on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork (July 2023‐July 2024) in Kuyu district, this article examines how the Kuyu Cement Factory reshapes everyday life through dust, odours and environmental degradation. Residents describe coughing as part of daily existence, alongside impacts on health, livestock and crop production, while the surrounding landscape is frequently obscured by dust and smoke. Factory workers report prolonged exposure with limited protection. The article argues that industrial pollution is experienced not only as environmental harm but also as a transformation of sensory and embodied life. Crops lose colour, livestock show respiratory distress and visibility declines as emissions spread, while dust and odours reshape spatial orientation. These experiences reveal exposure as a shared atmospheric condition linking humans, animals and environments.